Heavy Serenade Album Review
After listening to the EP on loop for 2 days straight, I am ready to make an album ranking/rating/review.
Disclaimer that I'm a huge nswer and I love the girls and their music, including every song on this album. Any critiques are not hate.
Crescendo (9/10) - Absolutely breathtaking song. I love all the experimental stuff they did with the structure of the song. I don't know music terms that well but a lot of nswers have analyzed it and it's insane the detail put into it. I love when not only the lyrics but also the actual song structure reflect its meaning ("took away my metronome" and all that). The contrast between the gentle and calming prechorus with the choppy bits in the intro and the tension in Kyujin's verse is so good. And that acapella bit?? Just amazing. What can I say, nmixx pre-releases always hit and the producers really went off on this one. I do kinda wish half of Haewon's lines weren't just behind Lily because I feel like her rich voice has so much potential that isn't tapped into enough. But I am quite literally biased as a Haewon bias lol. Now my one critique is of course the only problem with nmixx songs - that they're so short. I would have really liked another repeat of the chorus at the end.
Different Girl (8/10) - Sapphic anthem we love to see it. As to be expected from Bae, but idk if she wrote those parts lol. I'm really obsessed with the chorus of this song, it's such a fun vibe that makes me feel like I'm driving by the water during sunset. I know people were worried about Pink Slip but I think the instrumental is really good with the synths and little bubble noises. I'm not too into the verses, they sound kinda similar to the Ideserveit verses and I would have liked something different. But my love for the chorus is enough to put it in second place. Though once again, why so short! It feels like I'm left on a cliffhanger wanting more. A bridge and another chorus would have been amazing.
Loud (8/10) - Honestly had the potential to be the best song. The instrumental in the intro alone is S tier worthy; it really reminds me of ivri, another one of my favorite artists. The "why do we have to hide it" part is soo beautiful and gives me goosebumps. When Haewon sings that part.... yeah my Haewon bias heart can't handle it lol. The vocal layering on the chorus is ethereal. Now I unfortunately just can't get behind the "gorgeous gorgeous girls" part. It's way too similar to the "getcha getcha it's a wild thing" from Shape of Love, which also took me a second to get used to, but in this case it's like half the song. And yet again why. so. short!! I feel like another verse in the same tune as the first one and a dreamy bridge could have pushed this song over the top. But in this state it just feels like we're thiiiiis close to greatness. I still love it and think it's great that Lily wrote the lyrics. I think Reality Hurts and Crescendo are lyrically stronger but this is her first time being the solo lyricist so totally understandable.
Heavy Serenade (7/10) - I had really high hopes for this one based on the highlight medleys and teasers. But after it came out I kinda wish so much of it wasn't spoiled in those (esp the chorus), cause I'm usually expecting some sort of surprise in the official release. Here it feels like we pretty much already got all the standout parts. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is the only title track without any semblance of a change up other than Party O'Clock? As a mixxpop fan that disappointed me a little bit. It's still a super good song and I can't get enough of that last chorus. Plus the falsettos are beautiful. I think it just feels too similar to Blue Valentine, though I actually like it more. I really need to remember that I literally always like the pre-release more than the title track, cause Crescendo really gave me high expectations. The main release is always gonna be more commercial. I still quite like the moments of the heavy bass breaking up the pretty melodies, which is what got me excited originally.
Superior (7/10) - It feels weird to have this song rank this low because I honestly don't really have anything negative to say about it. I was surprised that this is the second shortest song on the album because it actually feels the most complete. It's hard to rank this against the other songs because it feels quite different from the rest of this album. I think it's a great grandiose song with insane vocals and I really enjoy every single part of it. I guess it just stands out less than the others? Idk, it might be tied with HS.
Ideserveit (6/10) - Not bad but the least good. The prechorus is really nice and the chorus is catchy. I'm super obsessed with the change up part and honestly wish it extended till the end of the song. It feels like it got cut short cause the "I'm gonna rise" really sounded like it could've led to something that makes you ascend like the Papillon post-chorus. Other than it's just a standard good song.
Overall review: Really amazing no skip album. Hats off to the producers. It's just that it keeps feeling like there's just a little bit of something missing. And please please for goodness sake I want longer songs. Amazing release nonetheless!!